Agencies helping former prisoners awarded $225,000

What is helping them is reentry programs, programs that focus on turning their lives around for the better, according to Karol Davis.

Davis is the CEO of Tri-Counties Crusaders, a volunteer agency that works to prevent recidivism. Her work, and the work of other reentry councils across the state, is being noticed and rewarded. Tri-Counties Crusaders in Onslow and Jones counties and Eastern Carolina Council of Governments in Pamlico and Craven counties have been awarded $225,000 each by the N.C. Department of Public Safety, according to a press release.

“When people have served their time, we want them to become productive members of society for their own success and for the safety and success of our communities," Governor Roy Cooper is quoted as saying in a press release from NCDPS. "Reentry councils make a real difference helping people leaving prison to find a place to live and a job."

With this money, Davis said she can afford to hire two case workers and a coordinator to help work one-on-one with those who are interested in turning their lives around. It also helps buy those little extras that, sometimes, former prisoners need to get by.

For example, Davis said, someone attending Coastal Carolina Community College for secondary vocational training might need a pair of work boots for their education. Tri-Counties Crusaders can purchase those for them.

“Statistics have proven that when people are given these opportunities, they tend not to go back into the prison system,” Davis said.

Gregory Singleton knows this from experience.

While he’s now the director of the Community Workforce Readiness department at Craven Community College and the project manager of the Craven Pamlico Re-Entry Council, Singleton spent five years behind bars.

Convicted of conspiracy with the intent to sell and/or distribute cocaine in 1992, Singleton said his past gives him a unique perspective in his current role. He was convicted for what he said is called a “dry conspiracy,” which he said means there were no drugs found on him, but in a he said-she said situation he got the bad end of the stick.

But Singleton didn’t just waste away his days – some people, he said, just live day-to-day; Singleton wrote to people, continued his education, and created a portfolio for future employers.

He now uses his experience to better other people’s lives, including working with prisoners on Tuesday and Thursday nights to give them tips, like how to articulate what they want, how to network, and how to properly shake hands.

“We talk about a lot of real situations of what failure looks like,” Singleton said.

They could be rejected by potential employers once or 20 times, and they’re competing against people without a criminal background.

“Therefore,” Singleton said, “they must be that much better, period.”

Getting jobs is a huge hurdle in Onslow and Jones counties, too, she said. The communities here are very caring in many aspects, she continued, but many have the mindset that people should “just pull themselves up by the bootstraps, but these people’s straps are broken.”

Even someone who has paid the price and corrected their behavior struggles against a workforce that says, “We don’t hire felons,” Davis said.

“No matter what they do, they can’t get over it,” Davis said. “We have to be a little more forgiving.”

What many may not realize is helping those who want to help themselves ultimately helps the community. When someone is on the outside, working and contributing, it’s another beneficial member of society, another person paying taxes, Singleton said.

In Craven and Pamlico counties, Singleton said their focus for their new funds will be from the ground up. They’ll focus on the most immediate needs, including finding homes for the homeless and feeding the hungry, as well as working on any substance abuse or mental health illnesses.

They’re ultimately grooming them for employment, Singleton said, and even those who are willing to hire an ex-felon would still be wary of hiring someone with an addiction or mental illness.

Once those basic needs are met using the $225,000, Singleton said they’ll move on to the next step.

The state has recognized the benefits of reentry councils, for those working to end recidivism.

“Reentry councils play an important role in helping former inmates find services they need to successfully return to their communities,” Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik A. Hooks is quoted as saying in the press release.

With around 23,000 people being released from North Carolina prisons yearly, Hooks said these resources are necessary.

Reporter Amanda Thames can be reached at 910-219-8467 or Amanda.Thames@JDNews.com

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